Hi All,
I am looking for some general info about diesel Pontons. I have come across a 190D Ponton that has been parked up for a few years and is now unregistered. The car looks to be complete but the body is full of "character"! There are dents and scratches all over it and some surface rush, but I can't see anything to serious and I kinda like that you can see its history. That being said I probably need to get under it and have a good poke about.

So, what I am really after is some inside info as to how hard these cars are to work on. I am a total novice, but want to learn about the mechanics and maintenance of a car. I currently have a W114 coupe which I had intended to potter about with, but it is now not suitable as I use the car a lot and do not want to risk break it. I thought as this Ponton was already unregistered it would cost nothing to sit there and be a long term project but don't want to have to spend a fortune getting it back to a drivable state.

Does anyone know what sort of $$ a beat up unregistered Ponton is worth?

Can't give you any advice on the price, but pictures might help lots. In terms of repair costs - remember you are not restoring an EH here. Compare for instance a water pump or a head gasket between the 2 cars and see if you are prepared to swallow the difference on any parts comparison. If so, then you know you might make it the end without abandoning

These are relatively "bomb proof" cars, so possibly a good example to learn about how old cars work. So long at the body does not have terminal rust and the engine has reasonable compression the rest is easy. As ansteadeh suggested pictures would help and also an idea of what you are likely to be paying for it. If it is cheap enough, then I guess you can't go wrong...

Thanks for the info. I will try and get some photos to post and get a bit more info from the owner who appears to be away at the moment. I am definitely hoping to get a Mercedes project and thought that these cars might be fairly simple in terms of electrical faults etc, and that parts would still be pretty available. In regards to body rust, are there typical bad fault spots I should look at?

W114 Coupe wrote:thought that these cars might be fairly simple in terms of electrical faults

Well, this bit is certainly true, and should be true for any car, petrol or diesel, from that period. I can remember seeing the circuit diagram for the model previous to the ponton (the 170 or whatever), and it was so simple that each element (lights, plugs, battery, etc) was shown as a picture. "Now, children, this red wire connects to what we call the big shiny lights." The electrical part is likely to be by far the simplest bit. As for the rest, Mercedes have long been known to be well ahead of their time, so things are often a bit more complicated than in other cars.

If your aim is to learn about how they work, and you are not too worried about appearances, then this is likely to be a good period to start from (either this or a non-fuel-injected finnie).

My plan was not to worry about appearances as much as others would disagree I am sure. I know to fix the body work would be huge $$ so I had thought that I could plastic coat the car exactly as it is so that no further deterioration occurs, but I would need to look into this.

So based on what everyone is saying this could be a good project, it will be more complicated that lesser brands of the same era, parts will likely cost a bit more but if the price is right it could be viable. I will go and hunt down the owner and keep you all posted.

Have a look at some of the threads by GrampiansMerc - he has also been looking for a diesel ponton recently. Two have showed up in SA that were basically complete but unregistered and had not been driven in ages - one was a 180D that was on ebay for around $800 and then dropped to $400, the other was a 190D that sold for $1400.

Mechanically, a 190D ponton would be very similar to a 190c Finnie and would also have a lot of similarities with early Finnies as well. In terms of electrics, they are very easy to work on - I've never had to spend more than about 5 minutes diagnosing electrical faults in any of my Finnies, I've never found any faults with the wiring itself, any electrical problems have usually been dirty terminals, bulb holders or loose connectors.

As far as a 'first project' goes, the only downside I can see is the issue of parts availability, especially secondhand parts. With a W114/116/123 you can usually go to any number of local wreckers and pick over cars to get those little trim, interior and nik-nak bits - it will be a lot harder to find a ponton in a wrecking yard to scavenge bits off - but having said that there would be numerous folks here on ozbenz that could help find bits. There is still a surprising amount of new parts still available on ebay and from our forum sponsor. In addition to ozbenz, the MBzponton site has a really good technical section that covers the most common repair jobs:

If the car has been sitting for several years, you may have to overhaul the brakes which would probably be one of the bigger costs - however things like hoses and brake cylinders are still available new and fairly cheap if you can do it all yourself. There is a place here in Adelaide that you can send your master cylinder to and they will completely rebuild it, sleeve it with stainless steel and post it back to you.

If the body isn't too bad and the car is complete it sounds like a great project - and compared to other cars of the era they are just a dream to work on - I'm still amazed at how easily nuts and bolts come undone and how easy some repairs have been on my Finnies - even on my white project car which spent a good number of years sitting outside!

I will look up the pages you have suggested, they sound interesting. I take you point that the Ponton will be hard to get parts for so I will give that some thought. I have had to source parts for my W114 and it has been difficult particularly for trim parts, I have so far had bits sent from America, UK and Europe (thank god for ebay!)

I think that whilst a W114 would be most sensible to learn about, as it would allow me to exercise any knowledge on my everyday day, I don't think I could bare the thought of a rough one so it would probably cost me a fortune as I would want to restore it, the Ponton I have seen is an ugly ducking but has a certain charm so I would be happy to leave it unrestored.

The price indicators was also helpful, need to find out where the owner is hiding and see if he will part with it!

Actually ponton parts are very easy to find, both used and new. I know of a few people who have stacks of parts laying about. I even have some 170Diesel bits too.If you are serious about owning one,Join the Inernational Ponton Owners group on yahoo groups. it's the best site bar none,for owners of pontons with a range of owners from battlers to millionaires and all share the same passion for these cars.

Hi All,
I managed to get a hold of the owner of the car I had spotted. Unfortunately it is not for sale. The owner has lost his license so she is just sitting there, Pretty devo, was looking forward to it as a project.